Did you know your laundry is toxic? Tests show that billions of people drink water with plastic fibers, and we can blame our washing machines for it. Photographer Benjamin Von Wong decided to point out to this issue in his usual way – by creating an epic photo project. He aims at raising awareness and hopefully getting electronics companies come up with washing machines which will prevent the pollution.

For his latest project, #FixToxicLaundry, Ben gathered a number of volunteers. Together, they created amazing “laundry monsters” luring from washing machines, representing the “monsters” which pollute our tap water and endanger our health. Their materials were limited, but the efforts were huge. And as a result, Ben ended up with another brilliant set of photos.

You may remember Swedish photographer Erik Johansson for his popular mirrored lake project or Full Moon Service. He has created another fantastic conceptual image named All Above the Sky, and he has shared some details about the creation of this image with DIYP.

I was recently scouring the Interweb when I came across a fantastic, post apocalyptic, promo image. As I looked further it seemed to be for a new TV show, but as I dug a little deeper, I found out it was the brainchild of Jeff Madison.

Jeff is a photographer from New York, and his new photo series Mad World is based on a fictional TV show that comes on after AMC’s The Walking Dead! I like nothing more than when a photographer/digital artist who goes the whole hog and creates detailed stories with their images. I myself tend to write backstories and write down full character sheets before any actual shooting begins. So I was happy to see Jeff building a whole world with his imagination.[Read More…]

Ah, “photography”, you loosely defined word that everyone seems to have their own definition of. It’s amazing how polarizing you can be, isn’t it?

And one of your most polarizing aspects seems to be exactly how much retouching is considered reasonable. Purists claim no retouching of any kind is allowed (then they usually reference Ansel Adams, which is quite ironic considering the amount of dodging and burning he brought to the field), while others gladly accept Photoshop as a regular part of their photography tool-belt.

In general though, there’s a viewpoint around the photography community, that too much Photoshop is a bad thing. That it destroys photography as we know it, and those who retouch an absurd amount should be banned or beheaded or at least mildly reprimanded (depending on which Facebook group you happen to be in). But before we all start gathering our pitchforks, can we maybe examine this concept of over-retouching for just a second?

Do you remember your first eye-opening experience with lighting in photography? I think it happend to me while watching one of David Hobby’s tutorials, realizing that the justification for flash lighting is so much more then just “being able to shoot at ISO 100”. Lighting sets the mood, creates separation, defines spacial relation and, sometimes, makes the impossible possible. Today, let’s look at a lighting trick, I’ve only recently come across together with photographer (and good friend) Ethan Oelman while joining him on one of his personal projects. If you love to experiment with mobile flash equipment as well, check out “The Strobe” section bellow – you can win one of the awesome new Elinchrom ELB 400 strobe packs!

We have been big supported on the vision over gear approach for a long time now (1, 2), but photographer Robert Cornelius is taking this approach to the next level, basically claiming that regardless of gear used, your Photoshop skills is will have far greater impact on the final piece that any of the gear used.

I’m writing this post because I was up late last night on a Facebook forum, reading close to 200 comments about new photographers and what slime they are to the industry. How they’re stripping photography of it’s “art” and destroying any decent business practices. I read every comment, feeling more and more sick to my stomach the further I scrolled down the page.

“Who do these people think they are? Don’t they remember when they were new and making all the same mistakes?”

I know this year has probably had it’s ups and downs for you; the excitement of booking your first paid gig, the confusion of all that “must have” photography gear and the hurt and guilt of being single-handedly blamed for “ruining the industry.” I know the phrase “what to charge for engagement photos” is probably one of the first things to come up in your Google search bar, and secretly you’re still wondering why using the eraser tool in photoshop is such a horrible thing.

I also know that you’re afraid to ask for advice at every turn because for every established photographer that is willing to help, you’ve got 30 more breathing down your neck that are doing everything they can to cut you down. I’ve been there too – I’ve had my work ripped apart online by a “reputable” photographer (who went out of business earlier this year), I’ve bought things I didn’t need because some famous photographer endorsed them and I thought it would make a dramatic improvement in my work (it didn’t), and I’ve used the crap out of the eraser tool (layer mask, folks).

So what I wanted to do here is give you a heads-up. A bit of a rant mixed with some advice I wish I had known in the beginning, this is just about everything I wish someone had told me the first day I got that used and slightly beat up (but still very new to me) camera in my hands.

Editor note. The post has some strong graphics in it which may not be to everyones taste. Proceed with caution.

Photography can be an expensive passion; and none of us have the budget of a small European country although sometimes it does feel like we need it to create amazing images. In this article I’d like to share some of my favourite conceptual images that were both fun and inexpensive to create.

Whilst I understand that my slightly dark and quirky style doesn’t suit everyone, you can take the basic ideas and techniques to apply to your own style.

For each concept I’ve given the price of the items I’ve used but keep in mind that you won’t have to buy everything every time for every shoot. A little creativity goes a long way to keeping your costs down.

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page